Cahaba River Society began in the 1980s with a group of volunteers who came together with the goal of cleaning up the River. Over the ensuing decades, we have worked with many groups, using our canoe fleet for river cleanups. Many of these dedicated partners, such as the Sunrise Rotary and Perimeter Civitan folks, have made heroic efforts over many years to remove trash from the Cahaba River.

Our River Stewardship Program has expanded to also include riverside forest and habitat restoration through tree plantings and invasive plant control. Wil Rainer joined the CRS staff in 2022 as Field Programs Director, working with volunteers to coordinate service projects at locations across the Cahaba River watershed doing litter cleanups, invasive plant removal, native species planting, streambank stabilization and other restoration projects.

The Birmingham Botanical Gardens has generously supplied trees and shrubs raised from Cahaba-sourced seed for restoration planting. CRS now runs the largest volunteer community service program for the Cahaba. If your company, school, faith or civic group would be interested in performing a service project, contact Wil Rainer at [email protected]!